Leaf Dances

Kindergarten and first grade students have been celebrating the end of fall by exploring the way leaves move. We twist, whirl, float and roll the way a leaf would on a windy day. We also look at different leaf shapes. Some can be pointy, some are small and round with just one point and others can be long and thin with a jagged edge. All of this is used as our inspiration for our Leaf Dance!

Look at some of our leaf shapes!!

A school of choreographers!

Students in grades 1-5 are learning who's who in the dance world! Audience, performers, dancers, and choreographers are just a few of the key players. We took a try being choreographers and created our own dances using an ABA structure. 

Ever wonder what it might be like to be a professional choreographer or dancer? New York City Ballet has a new documentary about just that! Ballet 422 follows the creation of a brand new dance piece. Check out the clip below for a peek inside the life of these professionals..

'Ballet 422' Clip from The Playlist on Vimeo.

SPACE

Students in grades 1st - 5th have jumped, leaped, melted, twisted and slid into the year exploring the many ways we can move through personal and general space! All dancers have started to find new ways of moving by combining movements in an original and fun ways.

Can you twist through general space?

How about swing and shake in personal space?

What combinations do you see?

General & Personal Space from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.

Welcome Back!!

Welcome Back!!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to a brand new school year! As the year begins, I wanted to take the time to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about the dance program at PS 176.  My name is Megan Grippo, M.A. and I am thrilled to be leading this growing dance program! The program is in its second year and going strong. Students in grades K-5 participate in dance classes once a week where we will explore dance through four different concepts- Body, Space, Effort and Shape. Our goal is to nurture the creative spirit in every child and allow this to empower their critical thinking skills and confidence. 

 To start the year off on the right foot, I ask that on days your child has dance they wear comfortable clothing they can move in. This mean for girls no skirts. We do keep our shoes on for dance so sneakers work the best. Please keep this in mind when the weather gets cold as winter boots, although great for walking through snow, can be heavy and difficult to move in safely. On those days, please pack students’ sneakers to change in to before class.

Feel free to check our PS 176 Dance Blog to find out what your student is up to in the dance classroom! I look forward to a fun and productive year!

www.lettherebedance.blogspot.com

Sincerely yours,

Megan Grippo

mschenk3@schools.nyc.gov

PS 176 Dance 2013-2014 from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.

Check out all of the fun we had last year!

Directions and actions and popcorn, oh my!

Students from kindergarten and first grade have been exploring rhythm in dance and have been busy creating 'Echo Dances' and 'Popcorn Dances'! Did you know you could make shapes like popcorn? Big & fluffy, burnt & angular, and round kernels. We are learning how to POP on counts to create an accent!

Second and third graders are learning how to make partner dances with connections and directions. We have also started to create a dance based on the poem, "Riding the Subway Train". Can you find the actions words we used for movement inspiration?

Chance Dance

Fourth and fifth grade students have been learning about modern dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham. Cunningham used a method of creating dances called choreography and composition by chance. Students explored ways of making their own chance dances by rolling the dice to figure out the sequence of movement purely by chance! We also had fun using movement inspired by our favorite secret spy agent characters. Each movement from 'super hero jumps' to 'laser beam sneaking' was assigned a number. From there we used our phone number or birthday sequence to create group dances.

Interested in learning more about Merce or other choreographers? Check out the custom Google Search on the top of this blog!

How do you warm up for dance?

Every dancer knows it is important to warm up your body before you dance. Kindergarten and 1st grade students warm up with their Jungle Boogie Warm Up! We created this warm up by finding animals for every letter of the alphabet and then making a movement for each. We are excited to share that we just completed every single letter A-Z!

2nd and 3rd grade students warm up with the BrainDance adapted from Ann Green Gilbert. This warm up moves through the 8 developmental stages of movement that all humans go through.

Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration

PS 176 celebrated the New Year with some wonderful dance performances! The Kindergarten and 1st grade students welcomed in the year of the horse and scared away 'evil spirits' with the traditional Chinese Lion Dance.

Lion Dance @PS 176 2014 from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.

While 2nd-5th grade enjoyed the beautiful dancers of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company as they showcased many traditional Chinese dances including the Ribbon Dance. Check out our own PS 176 dancers perform their own Ribbon Dance!

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company -Ribbon Dance from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.

PS 176 Ribbon Dance from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.

Shapes and Levels

2nd and 3rd grade classes are creating their own movement sentences with shapes! See if you can find these shapes in Ms. Margolias' class... Wall (wide & flat) Ball (round) Pin (straight & narrow) Screw (twisted like a pretzel )

Movement sentence with shape & level from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.

Check out what's going on in the dance classroom!

4th and 5th grade classes are learning about Modern Dance in January and February. This style of dance is explored through our technical warm up and movement phrases across the floor and diagonal. Students are developing their skills in weight shifts, transitions and flow while looking at the history of this American art form.

Modern Dance phrase from Megan Schenk on Vimeo.